Love Save the Empty
by sultrysweet
Summary: Back from the Underworld, Emma and Regina have things they need to accept before they can find clarity and their happy ending. Thankfully, no matter what either of them feel, they'll always find a way to be there for each other.
**AN: I didn't actually watch 5x20, but I did see a gif of one of the most important scenes in the episode. Anything about that scene might be altered for the purpose of this story, but I'm sure no one will mind. If you do, I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it, but I'm not sorry I wrote it.**

* * *

A mix of emotions ran through her as she watched Emma offer up the last piece of herself she had to a pirate Regina thought didn't deserve any of the blonde's affection. But he was the one Emma wanted to save and Regina wouldn't argue with that. She was in the Underworld of all places for Emma, so she would support what Emma wanted regardless of whether or not she agreed with the decision.

She stood by and waited with half of Emma's heart in her hand while the other woman attempted to give another half to Hook, but something went wrong. Emma could barely extend her arm far enough for her heart to even brush against Hook's chest. Emma didn't get a chance to complete the action before she bent forward, doubled over in pain.

Regina didn't think in that moment, only acted. She wanted Emma to be successful, because she thought it was what Emma wanted, but she wouldn't lose the blonde over it. She couldn't.

In a few swift movements, she swooped in and grabbed the other half of Emma's heart from the woman and quickly but carefully pieced it back together. On the outside, the red heart was mended, but only time would tell if it would mend on the inside as well. But there wasn't time to think about that as Regina carefully slid Emma's heart back into her chest. With a hand on Emma's bicep, she held the other woman up; kept her on her feet. After a couple seconds, Emma started to fall back against Regina. The brunette closed the rest of the space between them and pressed her front to Emma's back as she gripped just a little tighter to hold the blonde up as long as the younger woman needed the support.

Emma took a deep breath, hand pressed to her own chest, and slowly started to stand back up. She staggered back a few steps, right into Regina. Regina caught her and kept her still while the blonde regulated her breathing. It took a moment, but soon her breaths evened out and her heart rate slowed to a normal pace.

Regina felt Emma's body relax, no longer in a state of panic. For that, Regina was grateful. It allowed her to finally relax as well, even if it was only just slightly. She still worried how Emma would feel when she completely came back to herself and understood that she wasn't able to save Hook. There were a number of ways Emma could attempt to save him from the Underworld—of that Regina was sure—and they'd already tried most of them, but to give Hook her heart was a huge step. Vulnerability wasn't an easy thing to feel. That much Regina knew from experience. Too much experience.

"Emma," Regina gently said as she just as gently assisted the blonde to stand up straight.

"No," Emma breathed out, her focus directed at Hook when she spoke. "It didn't work. Why didn't it work?"

Regina heard the woman's voice break, heard the tears she was sure were in those beautiful green eyes. She swallowed a lump that had suddenly formed in her throat and looked away as Emma started to stumble toward the pirate.

"I'm not sure why, love," Hook quietly said. "But…it didn't. And you're running out of time. The portal will close soon, and you can't stay here."

"No," Emma immediately replied with a frantic shake of her head. "No, I'm not giving up. I don't want to lose anyone else."

"I wish you didn't have to, love, but we both know you've done everything you can. None of it has worked. It's time to let me go, Swan."

She felt Hook's eyes on her, so Regina looked up and saw an expression on the man's face she had only ever seen on Snow or Charming. He was silently telling her to do what they both knew was right, to do what Emma wouldn't understand although it needed to be done. She still didn't like Hook, and still didn't think he'd earned whatever redemption the Charming family thought he'd achieved, but she was at least able to acquiesce his nonverbal request.

She didn't nod or give Hook any indication she had agreed with him. Instead, she reached for Emma's bicep again and pulled. Emma, unwilling to move, only turned toward her with desperate, pleading, _tired_ eyes. She looked pale and weak and exhausted. Ever since Cruella and Ursula had shown up, Emma had slowly started to unravel. After she'd killed Cruella, the action weighed heavily on the Savior and it was noticeable in her red-rimmed eyes, but never had she looked so drained. Not until she'd done whatever it took to save her one-handed boyfriend.

"It's time," Regina softly said as she bit back other comments she had fought hard to keep to herself for weeks.

"I'm not going anywhere without him," Emma insisted, her tired eyes sharp with angry determination then. "I didn't come here- I didn't drag my entire family down here with me just to walk away."

She sucked in a deep breath and then let it out. It wasn't appropriate for her to hold back with Emma anymore. The blonde needed a push. She needed the truth, as painful as it might have been. Decision made, Regina told her, "You're chasing ghosts, Emma! You're right. You did drag us all down here to get him back, and we've been with you through every last ditch effort to bring him back. I get not wanting to give up. I really do. But there comes a point when you have to let go."

"Yeah? What about Robin? In Camelot? He was bleeding out and you begged me to use my dark magic to save him. You weren't willing to give _him_ up. So why should I just accept the fact that I'm losing someone I l-ove?"

She didn't know if Emma was aware, but Regina had certainly heard how Emma's voice cracked when she said "love." Emma wasn't crying. She was emotional, but it was anger and frustration she felt. It wasn't from being on the verge of tears. It wasn't from yelling. The crack was distinct; like the word was shattered glass in Emma's mouth.

"Daniel," Regina said in response. "I gave Daniel up. I stole a heart from my mother's vault and tried to use it to bring him back, but it didn't work. Before that, I'd preserved his body for years just hoping there was a way. When I thought I'd found one, I didn't want to believe it had failed. It was my last chance."

Emma seemed to soften as she reluctantly listened to Regina tell her something only three other people knew about the brunette's past, the same three people that had all been in on the experimental attempt at revival that Regina later learned was a set up from the start.

"But it _had_ failed," Regina added. "I loved Daniel more than anything and all I wanted was to have him back, to see him smile, to hold him close and never let go. To run off with him like we'd planned and have the only life I'd ever wanted; a life filled with love and happiness. But that life…it wasn't possible. Not then. And I gave all that up, because I knew. In my heart, I knew it was over."

Emma looked down at the ground and clenched her fists at her sides. When she looked up again after a few seconds, Regina saw tears shine in the tinted Underworld sunlight as they streamed down her face. Her heart ached for the blonde.

"It's time," Regina repeated her earlier words. She encouragingly nodded at Emma, a small way of letting Emma know it was okay. "Letting go isn't the same as failure, Emma. It's acceptance. It's allowing yourself to grieve, and eventually move on. That's life."

Emma's chin wobbled as the woman choked back more tears. The blonde then took a shuddering breath and turned back to Hook. "I'm sorry," Emma said to him, her voice no more than a watery whisper.

Hook smiled at her and ran his good hand through her hair before he nodded. "I know. Now go."

Regina averted her eyes when Emma hugged him and she tried not to cringe when she heard what sounded like a kiss, but she grimaced and felt her stomach twist uncomfortably anyway. She only looked in their direction again when Emma sniffled. Thankfully for Regina's sake, the two were detached and the blonde was a few steps closer to her than she was to Hook.

"Okay," Emma finally agreed. "Let's go."

The other woman was about to walk ahead of her, alone, but Regina snagged her hand before Emma had the chance to create that distance between them. She squeezed it as soon as Emma's eyes locked on hers, ensured that the blonde knew she wasn't and would never be alone. Together, the two of them walked toward the fallen clock tower and left Hook to his fate. Emma looked back just once before she collected herself again and prepared to get on with her life, beyond the Underworld and without Hook.

* * *

It should have been cathartic, but their return to Storybrooke was anything but. Emma had lost Hook only moments before a final battle with Hades had cost Robin his life. Regina was stoic at the funeral. She had too much to think about, first and foremost being Roland. That boy had already lost his mother once, and again after Zelena had callously impersonated Marian. With Robin gone, he was an orphan. The Merry Men were as much his family as Robin was, but it wasn't the same. He no longer had a mother to sing him lullabies at night, or a father to hug and high five him after every little achievement. He'd lost both parents, and Regina had no idea what to say about that. She felt partly responsible for Roland's loss. Robin had only gone to the Underworld because Regina had followed Emma's lead. If she hadn't gone with Emma, Robin would have lived. Roland would still have his father and Regina's niece wouldn't have to grow up never knowing him.

As guilty as she felt, however, it didn't compare to what Emma felt. The blonde cried even harder at the funeral than Regina remembered seeing her cry over having to leave Hook behind. Although, she wasn't sure who Emma was crying for. Regina had agreed to bury Hook at the same time as Robin, both men not far from Neal's grave. So Emma could have cried over any one of those men, and maybe even all of them. Each one was a loss, and she knew how Emma felt about that. Regina didn't doubt the blonde looked at each grave as a symbol of her failures.

Regina approached the other woman and sheltered the blonde under her umbrella. Emma was, of course, the only one at the cemetery without one on a rainy day in Spring on the East Coast.

She wanted to ask Emma how she felt, but she was speechless as soon as she stopped beside the blonde. She released a sigh through her nose and allowed her tense shoulders to sag before she leaned in against Emma's side. The questions she had shouting out in her mind all went silent when she looked at the heartbroken woman beside her. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face was covered in a mix of tears and raindrops. There were dark bags under the blonde's eyes, which were just as red-rimmed as they'd been in the Underworld.

When comforting words failed Regina, she removed her hand from her coat pocket and took Emma's hand in hers. She kept her head forward, her eyes focused on the open graves as the ceremony continued, but her thoughts were of Emma. Her hand remained secure in Emma's grip, one that wasn't immediate but was there once it was clear Regina wouldn't pull away. They stood side by side in front of the townspeople in attendance and watched the caskets be lowered into the damp ground.

Quiet as she was, Emma was the first to break the silence between them and said, "I should have never let you go with me."

"It was my choice," Regina replied, not even a hint of hesitation from her. And seconds after those words left her mouth, she realized the same was true for Robin. He had chosen to follow her to the Underworld, just as she had chosen to follow Emma. But if it was his choice, and she knew and understood that it was his choice, she wondered why she still felt so guilty. It wasn't until she heard Emma sob almost as soon as she felt Roland run into the brunette's leg and squeeze her tightly.

She handed Emma the umbrella and ran her hand through Roland's curly, dark hair. She comforted Roland, but at the same time used her free hand to hold Emma close. She wrapped an arm around the blonde's waist and offered her shoulder for Emma to cry on, which Emma accepted.

A short time later, Henry stood in front of them with an understanding expression, such a wise look for their little boy, and shoved them together in a tight group hug. Emma's quiet cries reached a crescendo then. Henry hugged them harder.

When it was time to leave, Snow offered to take Roland with her and Charming back to the apartment. Before Regina could discuss any of that with the woman, Emma took Roland aside. Regina and Snow were the first to notice and quickly turned their attention as she crouched down in front of the boy and spoke privately with him.

Neither of them were able to hear what Emma said and, when they looked at each other to see if the other knew something they didn't, they noticed Charming and Henry were just as unaware of Emma's words to Roland. Whatever Emma said, Roland nodded in response at one point and even hugged the blonde when their conversation was finished. Emma then took his hand and walked him back over to their group.

"He wants to go with Henry, so he'll stick with you for the night," Emma said to their son. "What's it gonna be, Kid? Regina's or the apartment?"

"Um," Henry looked to Regina and then at Snow and Charming as he struggled to come up with the right answer. It seemed he thought he could choose wrong.

"Wherever you're comfortable," Regina told him.

"But…I…I'm comfortable at home," Henry winced as he answered.

"Okay. There's nothing wrong with that," Regina said.

"You- Is it- Are you sure that's okay," Henry asked. "You don't want…space?"

She flashed him a smile and pulled him in for a hug. "I don't want to be alone tonight," she confessed. "Especially if it means being away from you."

Henry didn't seem convinced, but he and Roland went to the mansion with her while Emma left with her parents. The blonde looked as if she was about to be physically ill when they all parted ways, but Emma hadn't said or done anything to indicate she wanted, or even needed, to be somewhere else than wherever she planned to stay that night.

Not until two in the morning when the younger woman purposely made herself known as she pushed against the magical ward around the house with a blast of her own magic. Regina felt it as if Emma had shoved her with her bare hands. The pressure was instant and woke her from her difficult, near impossible sleep.

She didn't bother to cover up, although her silk pajama set wasn't all that revealing to begin with, or even run a hand through her hair before she opened the door. Once face to face with Emma, any demands to know why Emma chose the middle of the night to visit her died on her tongue. Instead, she tucked her untamed hair behind her ear and stepped aside to let the blonde in.

Emma didn't wait for a verbal invitation and walked into the foyer. After Regina shut the door behind her, the other woman asked, "Where are the boys?"

"Asleep upstairs."

"In the same room?"

"Yes. Henry's room."

Emma looked a little crestfallen to hear that.

Regina furrowed her brow, confused, before she asked, "Why does that matter?"

"I… Do you- Is there, I don't know, an extra room or a couch somewhere I can crash on?"

"Why? Your own house isn't big enough?"

Emma looked down at her feet and shifted from side to side. "I couldn't- I didn't want to be there. I _can't_ be there. I'm not…I'm not the Dark One anymore and I just- I can't stand that place now. Not after…everything."

Regina slowly started to understand. She cleared her throat and said, "There's a guest room. The bed's already made up."

"Thank you," Emma said as she headed toward the stairs.

"Emma."

The blonde stopped and turned around to give Regina her full attention again.

"Do you want to talk about it," she asked the blonde.

"Do you," Emma countered.

Regina didn't respond. Emma seemed to take that as a no and started for the stairs again. Regina didn't stop her. She followed her.

* * *

Nothing was the same after that. Everything felt different despite the fact that only one thing had changed: Robin and Hook were gone. It was strange. And lonely. Roland was back at the camp in the woods where the Merry Men lived in, her niece was with Zelena in a room at Granny's, and Emma—

Emma was complicated.

The night of the joint funeral was the first, and at that point the only, time Emma had asked to stay with her. In the following weeks, Emma took to gulping down unhealthy amounts of coffee and alcohol. The blonde didn't care who saw her drunk or disheveled, sometimes both, and she certainly didn't care what they thought of her anymore. Regina noticed a lot of the townspeople stared at the other woman with worry, but worry was replaced with frustration and a loss of hope after two weeks.

It wasn't like Regina didn't feel like doing the exact same thing—drinking copious amounts of caffeine to stay awake and crippling amounts of bourbon and cider to elevate her mood even slightly from the numbness she felt daily—but she had to think about Henry and running the town. And if Emma was falling apart, it left little room for Regina to do so. One of them had to be strong and, after all that Emma had been put through recently, Regina knew it had to be her. The problem was, she didn't just need to be strong for Henry. Granny made sure to remind her of that one night when Emma drank until she was belligerent and refused to accept that Granny was cutting her off.

The blonde was too drunk to walk two steps away from the stool she occupied at the counter, so her threat to take her business down to the Rabbit Hole was empty, which meant she was too drunk to go anywhere by herself. No longer wanted at the diner, but physically unable to leave without being a bigger threat to herself than anyone else, Granny called Regina.

"Did you call her actual parents," Regina groggily asked over the phone.

"They already have a small child to take care of. I'm not about to bother them over their _adult_ child acting out. You share a son with her, so you can share the responsible Snow and Charming have for their oldest. But if you don't come get her in the next five minutes, I don't care who gets her the hell out of my diner. I just need her out."

"Can't you just stick her in one of the rooms there," Regina asked, but slipped on her shoes and went to her closet to grab a jacket anyway.

Granny scoffed and replied, "Already tried that. You know what she said? 'I'm not staying anywhere near that wicked bitch and her rape baby.' She needs to _go_ , Regina."

Granny hung up on her as she finger-combed her hair and made her way to Henry's room. She sighed as she opened his door and peeked inside. As she watched Henry sleep for a moment, she debated whether or not to wake him and explain the situation. She rested her head on the doorframe for a second as she came to the decision that it wasn't worth worrying him. He already knew Emma was in bad shape. He didn't need to see firsthand how much worse Emma was after dark.

When she arrived at the diner that night, Emma was a mess. Her eyes were wild and her dark jeans had a darker stain on them from what Regina assumed was alcohol once she noticed all the broken glass that surrounded the blonde. Granny gave her a pointed look that suggested Regina would be the one to pay for that, to which Regina just rolled her eyes and flicked her wrist. The glass floated off the floor and fit back into place until every broken glass was repaired, piece by piece.

The use of her magic alerted Emma to her presence.

The instant their eyes locked from across the room, Emma's fury dissipated. In only a matter of seconds, the pain Emma had channeled into her acts of rage was gone. All that remained on her face and in her sad, sad eyes was the hurt Regina knew Emma felt just as deeply as Regina was capable of love. It took Regina's breath away, and not in a pleasant way. What Regina felt when Emma looked back at her was stifling, but she cautiously took a few steps toward the other woman and held out a hand to the blonde.

"Let's go home," Regina said. She hadn't thought too carefully about her words, even though they had a small but existent audience in the diner, but she also didn't second guess them.

Emma didn't correct her either. The blonde, although hesitantly, walked toward Regina. She didn't take Regina's outstretched hand and Regina didn't attempt to touch Emma while she slowly, awkwardly, made her way toward the exit. Regina did, however, keep her arm raised and her hand at the ready—always ready—to catch Emma if she stumbled or started to fall.

Once they were outside, Emma leaned over the porch railing and threw up her liquid dinner into the bushes that lined the front of the building. Regina instinctively placed a hand on Emma's upper back and began to rub soothing circles like she used to do for Henry when he had tummy aches. But her hand didn't exactly sooth Emma in that moment, because Emma wasn't yet finished emptying the limited contents of her stomach. When Emma seemed well enough to stand up straight again, she dropped her hand to the younger woman's lower back and alleviated some of the pressure. Her fingertips lightly grazed Emma's shirt as she asked, "Do you think you can handle poofing to the house?"

Emma regained control of her breathing and nodded before she wobbled right into Regina's arms. Regina wrapped her arms around Emma in an abrupt hug to keep them from toppling over each other to the ground and enveloped them in smoke. She brought them to the master bathroom and, as anticipated, Emma fell toward the toilet and threw up again.

Regina ran her fingers through Emma's hair and raked her nails over the blonde's scalp, which earned her a content hum from the younger woman when her face wasn't hovering over the toilet bowl. She conjured a hair tie and pulled Emma's hair into a ponytail before the other woman was able to pull herself away from the toilet and rest her head against Regina's thigh where the brunette stood behind Emma's kneeling form. She stared down at Emma as the younger woman closed her eyes and relaxed against Regina's leg. She realized in that moment that she didn't feel numb. Taking care of Emma, even though she didn't completely know why the woman felt like destroying herself, Regina didn't feel hollow like she had ever since Robin's death. Well, with the exception of the night Emma stayed in the guest room. That knowledge, that recognition, was stranger than not feeling anything after losing Robin.

The archer was supposed to be her second chance at a happy ending. He was her soul mate, as proven by Tinkerbell's stolen pixie dust all those years ago. It made sense that she was lost and empty without him, but somehow Emma managed to find her and fill that space inside her. The younger woman hadn't even done anything to help her as they both mourned the loss of loved ones and yet, Regina felt more like herself when she tended to Emma than she had in the last month.

"Can I stay here?" Emma croaked out.

They'd spent several minutes in silence, Emma's head pressed against her thigh while Regina absent-mindedly brushed her fingers through the woman's ponytail. Emma's voice brought her back to the present and she nodded her consent before she replied, "I'll get the spare sheets for the guest room. I haven't changed them out to do the laundry since you stayed here last."

"No," Emma said.

"No? 'No' what?"

"Can I stay here? In your room?"

"Oh." Once again, Regina was speechless. She stilled her hand mid-stroke through Emma's hair and the rest of her body soon froze as well. They hadn't spoken in weeks, though Regina knew they both needed to talk sometime, but she understood Emma's request came from a place of desolation and desperate need. "Of course," Regina answered.

In no time at all, Emma conjured herself a clean toothbrush and borrowed some toothpaste after Regina helped her onto her feet. While the blonde was in the bathroom washing up, Regina went through her dresser for a pair of clothes for Emma to borrow. It took a little digging, but at the bottom of one of her lesser used drawers she found a pair of dark blue sweatpants and a semi-loose white shirt. She set them on the bed before she stripped herself of her jacket and shoes and crawled under the sheets.

When Emma joined her in the room, she carelessly shed her jeans and peeled off her shirt in front of Regina before she slipped into the sweats and tee left for her on the bed. To say there was nothing sexy about Emma changing in front of her would have been a lie, but Emma hadn't done it to entice Regina in any way. She'd moved quickly and with droopy, tired eyes. As soon as Emma was finished, she looked a little less worn out. She was noticeably more comfortable, and that fact became abundantly clear when the blonde lifted the sheets and filled the empty side of the bed without so much as a shy smile or stuttered question to know if Regina was ready to share the space.

"Thank you," Emma said as she pulled the covers up to her chest and moved a little bit closer to her.

Regina stiffened the more Emma moved toward her and when she felt Emma's toes touch her shins, she held her breath. She looked down at the covers and the space between them for just a second and when she looked up at Emma again, green eyes were already fixated on her.

"Would you mind if I…if I, maybe, stayed here? Indefinitely?"

"You- You're asking to move in with me?"

Emma didn't answer. She only continued to stare at Regina.

"Why," Regina asked.

"I don't sleep. I try, but I can't stay with my parents. So I go out. I drink. I don't go back to the apartment and, since that's the only place I have to go, I sleep in my car."

"You could've come here."

"I'm coming here now," Emma replied. "I didn't want to need you. I didn't want to need anyone. I just... I became kind of dependent on Killian, or at least dependent on having someone, and I still am. I don't…I don't know how to be… _me_ again."

"And moving in with someone is going to help you do that? Isn't that still being codependent?"

"Not if I sleep in the guest room and not when Henry lives here, too. This just makes it easier to co-parent."

"You're full of logic when you're drunk."

"Who said I was drunk?"

"You did. When you threw up in Granny's bushes _before_ we even poofed."

"I drank, but I'm not drunk."

"Mm. Whatever you need to tell yourself," Regina said with a slight smile.

"I'm not drunk," Emma insisted. "I can prove it."

"Really? What are you going to do? Stand up and walk in a straight line while you recite the A-B-Cs backwards?"

"No, like this," Emma quietly said as she leaned in.

Before Regina could even think to pull away, Emma's soft lips were on hers in a firm kiss. Immediately, the room felt warmer than it had been seconds prior, and much lighter for just a brief second. And then she felt it. The wave of the most powerful magic of all, the taste of a spice—like cinnamon—that she always smelled in Emma's magic. The fruity scent of her own magic mixed with it and her eyes fluttered open just as a stream of colors faded around them.

She stared at Emma in awe, but only for a moment. As soon as the magic and all the colors disappeared, so did the awe. Then reality set in and she tasted mint that only faintly masked whiskey and vodka instead of the spicy-sweet combination of their magic.

"You taste like vomit and toothpaste," Regina groaned and rolled onto her back.

"Was that- Did we just…have true love's kiss," Emma asked, clearly still caught up in what had just happened.

"It had to be if I don't mind how awful that was."

Emma went silent and after a moment. When she started to worry about the blonde, Regina turned her head and found out why she'd stopped talking. The younger woman looked like a kicked puppy.

"It was awful?"

Regina sighed and rolled onto her side toward Emma. She placed a hand on the other woman's hip and slid up against Emma's body before she initiated their second kiss. She lingered before she pulled away and said, "The kiss was perfect. I just wish your breath didn't smell like the night you've had."

"Sorry," Emma responded. "Next time I'll make sure not to get sick first."

"You think there'll be a next time," Regina asked. "How presumptuous. One drunken kiss and you think there will be more."

" _You_ kissed _me_ that time."

"You were pouting."

"But you kissed me."

"So you would stop looking at me with that hurt expression," Regina explained.

"You didn't have to kiss me. You could have told me the kiss didn't suck and left it at that."

"It wouldn't have convinced you."

"Oh no?"

"No. Actions speak louder than words, right?"

"Mm," Emma said with a smile. "That's true. I did say that. And I do believe it."

Emma started to lean in, but that time Regina knew she was going in for a kiss and promptly turned away so Emma's mouth landed on her cheek instead.

"You said next time you wouldn't get sick before we kissed," Regina reminded her. "It's still the same night. You were already sick before this."

"Right," Emma said and pointed at Regina with a hint of a smile. "I promise not to kiss you again until after another go with the toothbrush. But only if you tell me whether or not I can move in."

"Emma, you're welcome to stay here. As long as you need."

Emma bit her lip and stared at Regina for a moment before she asked, "Is that just because we shared true love's kiss?"

"No, because I would have said yes before we kissed."

The blonde beamed at her and said, "That's why it's true love. Because you would have taken me in before either of us knew what we have is special."

"It's precious," Regina corrected. "Despite all the kisses that qualify as true love that you've witnessed, and those you've been a part of, the romantic kind of true love—the kind your parents have—is rare. That kind of love…created you, gave you the powerful magic you have."

"Well, if we have that kind of love, what can we create? We're not exactly capable of getting each other pregnant."

"I'm not actually sure that's true," Regina said.

"Wait, you think two women can naturally have a kid together," Emma asked as she propped herself up on her elbow and looked at Regina with slightly wide eyes.

"It's magic, Emma. It's powerful and it has the ability to make someone like you. I think it's possible, but I've never been in this position before. But if you have any intention of finding out if we can conceive together, you'll go to sleep now. Your outburst at Granny's disrupted my sleep and I'd like to get back to it."

She noticed Emma still staring at her and when she looked over at the blonde, she saw those green eyes glitter.

"What," Regina asked her.

"We haven't even gone on a date yet and you're already talking about sleeping together," Emma answered. "Now who's being presumptuous?"

"Technically, we're already sleeping together," she said as she looked at the bed they lay in. "And we've already agreed to live together. We already share a son. Not exactly presumptuous since we're already making great time on developing this relationship."

"Guess it's just been a long time coming and now we have an express pass to our happy ending," Emma cheerily said before she then leaned down and kissed Regina on the cheek again.

"Mm. Well, we can swipe those passes in the morning. Goodnight, Emma."

"Regina—"

"Good _night_ , Emma," she partially groaned and started to roll away from the younger woman.

"Wait," Emma said, and touched Regina's shoulder. She gently pulled the brunette back toward her and added, "Would you…would you _want_ …to have another kid?"

Regina took a deep breath and replied, "That would depend on you. I…can't have children. Biologically, I mean. So…if you and I were to have a child, you would be the biological mother. Again."

"Oh, I- I didn't…know. I'm sorry. Um, maybe we won't talk about kids."

"It's fine," she said with a small, assuring smile. "Well, it's not fine. Not really. But…it is what it is. That doesn't mean I wouldn't be happy to have another child. I couldn't have children when I adopted Henry."

"We can do that. If we want another kid, we can adopt. There are so many kids out there that need a home. I know what it's like to keep wanting a real home, a family, and not getting it. So why not make our home theirs?"

Regina laughed. "It's not _ours_ yet."

"Regina," Emma said without even a hint of humor in her voice. "I'm being serious."

"I know," she gently replied. "Is that- Was that why you took Roland aside at the funeral? Because he doesn't have parents anymore? Just you like didn't have yours at his age?"

Emma hesitated, but nodded after a few seconds. "Yeah. I told him I was sorry, but that I would understand anything he might feel about not having them around. I also told him he could come to me anytime he felt angry or lost. And then I asked him who he wanted to stay with for the night, to make him feel less alone. He picked Henry."

Regina smiled again and said, "Sounds like you've practically already adopted Roland. Are you sure you want a litter of children, because one was already hard enough."

Emma chuckled and said, "I'd be happy to have any size family with you. We could adopt ten kids or just one. Or none at all, if that's what you want."

"Well, we can definitely cross that bridge when we get to it. But for now, go to sleep."

"So would you—"

"Shh."

"But I—"

"No," Regina groaned and eliminated the space between them. "No, no, no. _Sleep_."

"What about—"

"Em-ma," she chided as she wrapped an arm around the other woman's waist. "We can talk in the morning. Just let me sleep."

Emma smiled at her, their noses almost close enough to touch. "See you in the morning."

Regina rolled her eyes and said, "Yes, you will."

* * *

Regina woke up to the smell of bacon and the soft sound of music that was most certainly not her style. She crinkled her nose before her eyes popped open. She stretched out in bed and realized a moment too late that she would have hit Emma with her closed fist. That was if Emma was still in her bed.

The bed was empty to her left and the covers were made. It looked as if no one had ever been there, but Regina was sure the previous night hadn't all been a dream. Dreams of hers never felt so real. Nothing in her life had felt real, until Henry. He was the only one to age in her cursed town and he was the only one that didn't automatically do what she said because he was affected by the curse. He was a sweet boy, her little prince, and after ten years he brought Emma right to her. Between Henry and Emma, the two of them were all that felt real to her. They were the only ones that could give her a new life, not the Dark Curse or Storybrooke. Emma and Henry. Her family.

"I've walked down life's lonely highways," she heard familiar voices sing from somewhere downstairs. "Hand in hand with myself, and I realized how many paths have crossed between us."

Regina straightened up her pajamas and hair as she stood and headed toward the bedroom door. Once she was in the hallway, she was able to make out the two different voices as they continued to sing together.

"You're what you perceive. What comes next is better than what came before."

Henry laughed at something as Regina reached the bottom of the stairs, but she didn't know why until she reached the kitchen. Emma stood at the stove with a pan of eggs and a long, thin pan for the bacon she cooked at the same time. She held a spatula up to her mouth before she used it to flip the scrambled eggs, and then brought it up to her mouth again. The blonde sang into it when the next round of lyrics filtered through the iHome Regina knew hadn't been there before that morning. She didn't even own any Apple products. But Emma did.

"Come, come, come to me," Emma sang while the bacon sizzled and popped.

Henry snatched the spatula out of Emma's hand with a smile and hip-checked her to get her to move aside. He tended to the bacon, careful as he inspected both sides of each slice to ensure they were just crispy enough. Emma allowed it and smiled herself as she stepped back and watched for a moment.

As the song finished, Emma grabbed three plates and set them down on the island counter. It took only seconds before Emma noticed Regina in the entryway and, as soon as their gazes met, she felt at ease in ways she'd never felt before. It was like seeing Henry wake up after she and Emma returned his heart to him. Like seeing Henry calling out to her when Zelena had knocked her out, his memory returned and yelling the word "Mom" over and over until she saw his face.

Looking at Emma in that moment, in her kitchen the morning after their first kiss, she felt warm and safe and loved. She felt comfortable. Even though she was already home in her mansion, Emma made her feel like home wasn't any particular place. It was a feeling, and Emma—and Henry—gave her that feeling.

"Hey," Emma said and flashed a smile before she backed away from the counter.

"Hey," Regina replied, still as awkward as it had been for her to say in Neverland.

"You hungry? Henry and I made breakfast."

She looked over at their son, who turned to watch them for a moment before he went back to the eggs. The song changed from one to the next on some kind of playlist and, although the next song also wasn't Regina's typical musical taste, it sounded pleasant. Happy and mellow and smile-worthy, even before she heard the starting lyrics about a sun and things being alright. As she looked from Henry to Emma and thought how wonderful it was to finally have the family she'd been missing out on for so many years, she thought no truer words than what was said in the song had ever been spoken. Well, except when Snow had told Emma "happy endings aren't always what we think they will be" before they all said their goodbyes at the town line, before Emma and Henry left for New York for an entire year.

"I'd love some breakfast," Regina replied with a smile.

"We haven't made any toast yet, but if you want some we can—"

She shook her head, still with a smile, and cut Emma off before the blonde offered anything else. "That's okay. I'll make it. You two have already done such a great job."

"We didn't want to wake you," Henry told her. "Ma said you had a difficult night."

"Because of me," Emma explained, a hint of a laugh in her voice. "I was in a bad place and Regina was called to come get me. It was late and she picked me up, and then she took care of me."

"So…you haven't told him everything," Regina asked.

"What's everything," Henry asked and then motioned to the island. "Hand me a plate? The eggs are ready."

Emma held out a plate and Henry set a portion of eggs on it. He went back to the bacon and lifted a couple pieces to put onto the plate next.

"I haven't told him anything we discussed last night," Emma said as she set the plate back down on the counter and grabbed another one for the next serving. "I might not be great at parenting, or _co_ -parenting, but I figured it would be better if we told him together. I also thought you might kill me if I didn't wait for you to be there when we told him. It's kind of a big deal, right?"

Regina smiled and nodded. When she looked at Henry again as he continued to put food on the plate Emma held out for him, he furrowed his brow and looked right at her. It was his "what's going on?" face. The next look after that one would be the "don't lie to me" face if they didn't tell him the news soon.

"We can tell you when we all sit down to eat," Regina told him. "I promise."

Henry stared at her for another moment before he seemed to accept her response and plated the third and final serving. He turned off the stove and set the dirty dishes in the sink before he grabbed one of the plates on the counter.

"I'll just be a minute to make the toast and then I'll join you," Regina said.

"Okay," Emma said with a sunny smile. The younger woman grabbed the last remaining plate on the counter, presumably her plate since Emma and Henry already had theirs, and took it with her into the dining room.

As she made the toast, she listened to the music that continued to play and smiled to herself as she cut each serving of toast in half then set it on a fourth plate specifically for the toast. She even started to hum along with the song by the second chorus.

"Here comes the sun and I say, it's alright," she then started to sing along.

"You have a beautiful voice," Emma said from somewhere close behind her. It startled Regina a little because she hadn't expected the other woman back in the kitchen.

"So do you," Regina said. "Don't think I didn't hear you earlier."

"Yeah, well, you might need to get used to it. I don't sing a lot, but…I do when I'm happy."

"And…I make you happy? I highly doubt that that."

"You were there when I needed someone," Emma explained as she slowly started to close the space between them. "You've had my back since Ursula and Cruella showed up. I asked for a place to stay last night and you're giving me one. And you truly love me. That definitely doesn't hurt."

Regina's eyes raked over Emma just before the blonde stood toe to toe with her. When she looked up into green eyes again, Emma's smile had curled into a smirk.

"I already brushed my teeth once this morning," Emma informed her.

"Do you want a sticker for good behavior," Regina teasingly asked.

"More like a kiss," Emma replied.

Regina chuckled and wrapped her arms around Emma's waist. She didn't stop smiling even as she leaned in and kissed the other woman, as requested.

When they slowly started to pull apart, they heard Henry's confused voice. "Moms?"

Emma slowly turned around while Regina leaned and stepped over to the side to see him.

"I guess that's one less thing we need to tell him," Regina said. "Although I'm sure we still have plenty of explaining to do."

"Um, I don't think you need to explain too much about what I just saw," Henry said. "You're together?"

"Yes," Emma answered.

"When did that happen," he asked.

"Last night," Regina responded. "Emma wasn't feeling too well so I brought her here and we…we talked."

"Then what? You just decided to start dating?"

"Um, sort of," Emma said. "We…also decided on more than that."

Henry furrowed his brow even further.

"Henry," Regina cautiously started to say, "Emma's going to move in."

Their son's eyes widened in shock, but he surprised both of them when he barreled into them for a tight hug.

"That's awesome," Henry told them as he rested his head on both of their shoulders, so much taller than Regina remembered.

"Re-really," Regina asked as she wrapped her arms around him and managed to brush fingers with Emma when their hands met on Henry's back.

"Yeah," he replied, and a moment later he pulled away. "After we spent that year apart, when Emma and I were in New York without you, I always kind of wondered what it would be like for us to live together. I mean, after we came back here and I remembered everything. That's when I thought about it."

"You did," Regina asked, surprised.

"Even when you two were both dating other people," Henry continued. "And then I got to write Ruby and Dorothy's happy ending and it just… I was happy for them, but I also… I saw the way each of you looked at the story, at their picture. Mom, you looked at it with wonder. And Ma, you looked at it with longing and a sort of sadness. And your eyes… Hey! Your eyes!"

Regina frowned and looked from Henry to Emma.

"What about my eyes," Emma asked, confused as she looked between Henry and Regina.

"You looked miserable in the Underworld. You looked miserable even before that, but it was worse then. But now—"

"You look better already," Regina finished for Henry with an overwhelming sense of awe in her expression and tone of voice.

"What…what do you mean," Emma asked.

"There's…a light in them again. There's… _life_ in them," Regina said as she reached out and gently touched Emma's face.

"You did that," Henry said. Both she and Emma looked at him again and then he continued. "It's all changing again. It's just like when the clock restarted after Emma decided to stay in town. But it would have to be true love that did that and when you kissed just now there wasn't- Oh! Did you kiss last night? Was that true love's kiss? I felt something hit me when I slept and it felt like the blast from true love, but I thought—"

As soon as he looked at them, Regina knew they seemed guilty because Henry seemed to figure it all out just from that one look at them.

"That _was_ it. It was _you_." He smiled and hugged them again.

"You're okay with this," Regina asked.

"Of course I'm okay with this," he said before he pulled away again. "Now I get to write _your_ story. I get to write your happy ending. And…and it's part of my happy ending, too."

Regina looked at Emma and smiled as soon as they locked eyes. The moment they looked away from Henry, he bolted from the room. They looked back in his direction again and watched him as he turned the corner and disappeared into the foyer. They heard his heavy footsteps up the stairs before they turned once again to look at each other. The song started to come to an end and, as she heard the last few words, she felt them deep within her soul.

" _Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting. Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear. Here comes the sun."_

Emma smiled at her again just as the lyrics repeated "here comes the sun" again and again.

"The sun indeed," Regina thought aloud.

"What?"

"Your smile is bright enough to compete with the sun, dear. It's appropriate," Regina answered.

Just then, Henry joined them again in the kitchen with his book secured in his arms, pressed against his chest. He set it on the counter and opened it to the first unused page near the end. Hook and Robin's funeral had been documented just after Ruby and Dorothy's kiss in Oz, so Emma and Regina's story apparently would come after tragedy just as it had happened in reality. But as they both watched Henry write, they realized it wasn't such a sad or terrible thing after all.

"I think I'm gonna need a separate book for both of your stories," Henry told them. "How you two suffered before you finally met, and how everything changed before you finally found your happy ending. But for this copy, I'll write the abridged version."

She and Emma moved in closer and looked over his shoulder as they watched him write:

" _They pulled themselves out of the darkness and into the light. With a new day came a new chance for them to have the love and happiness they'd been looking for all their lives. Together, they saved themselves and each other. Together, they were whole again."_

Regina felt Emma drape an arm over her shoulders. Regina wrapped an arm around Emma's waist only seconds later. They smiled at each other for a moment before they each rested a hand on either of Henry's shoulders and admired his work. Happiness was tangible for them in that moment. All the grief they'd gone through, the loss and the heartache and the loneliness, was dulled by the strength of love and family and home. All their pain, while it wasn't forgotten or replaced, was dulled by their happily ever after. Finally, Emma and Regina had truly won. They stood united and they beat fate. Their own destiny being their choice to finally set their hearts free.

* * *

 **Note: The songs mentioned were "I Found a Reason" by Velvet Underground and "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles.**


End file.
